Speak Up for the Love of…

All the things we love most are threatened by climate change! But on 17th June, we’ve got a great opportunity to help protect them, by meeting our new MPs in Westminster to ask them to commit to strong action on climate change.

NE-CAP has a vision to have every single NE constituency represented.Could you be there for one of them, ideally with one or two friends?

This is urgent:train fares will increase steeply as time goes on, so please book your seat as a matter of urgency. Or go by coach and stay with friends or family. In any case, please let me know!

***

“Zewdie Tamirat’s eyes were swollen shut through malnutrition and her delicate skin was no longer able to mask the skeleton beneath. Brushing away flies from her face with a small twig, the little girl stood quietly as, in 2000, her father explained how three years of crop failure in Ethiopia had left his family facing starvation. Pitiably, she attempted a smile for the cameraman”. (Jim Loring, Tearfund) [See Zewdie’s image attached.]

It came like a bolt from the blue when, early in 2006, I read that global warming is “probably responsible for the drop in rainfall in Ethiopia since 1996” (Lord Robert May, President of the Royal Society). In other words, rich country pollution is already doing terrible damage to the world’s poor.

***

Everyone’s talking about who’ll win the election… But what we’re wondering most is, whoever gets into power – what will they actually do? On 17th June, we and thousands of people from across the UK will be asking them to protect the things we love.

It’ll be a doddle! We’ll provide you with an easy-to-understand briefing to give to your MP and some suggestions of what you can say. And no one is going to expect you to be an expert on climate change!

NE-CAP supporters have an enviable reputation as front-runners in support of action on global poverty and climate change. Now is not the time to let ourselves down – and still less to betray the world’s poor and our own children and grandchildren – by our indifference and indolence!

Not everyone’s in a position to support this event, but that means that it’s all the more important for those of us who can support it, to do so.

“Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings…Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.”
Nelson Mandela, 2005